Monthly Archives:: October 2013

Whenever I have a bad day, Julia Quinn is an author I turn to. I devoured her Bridgerton series and I’ve made no secret that Mr. Cavendish, I Presume is my favorite. When the opportunity came to participate in the blog tour for The Sum of All Kisses, I couldn’t pass up the chance. The Sum of All Kisses is the third in the Symthe-Smith Quartet series. If you haven’t read the first two books, Just like Heaven and A Night Like This, you can delve right in; however, Quinn does mention a few things that occur in previous books, but nothing I would consider a spoiler. As for character development, it’s strong. We spend an equal amount of time with Sarah Pleinsworth and Hugh Prentice and get to know… Read more »

As part of the blog tour, I have an excerpt of Julia Quinn’s The Sum of All Kisses. Enjoy! Synopsis: Hugh Prentice has never had patience for dramatic females, and if Lady Sarah Pleinsworth has ever been acquainted with the words shy or retiring, she’s long since tossed them out the window. Besides, a reckless duel has left this brilliant mathematician with a ruined leg, and now he could never court a woman like Sarah, much less dream of marrying her. Sarah has never forgiven Hugh for the duel he fought that nearly destroyed her family. But even if she could find a way to forgive him, it wouldn’t matter. She doesn’t care that his leg is less than perfect, it’s his personality she can’t abide. But forced to spend… Read more »

Rachel Harris is one of those authors I keep wanting to pick up and even have My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century on my to-be-read list, but ask anyone with a list and they’ll tell you, sometimes just don’t get around to it. When the opportunity came to participate in the blog tour for Seven Day Fiancé, I couldn’t pass up the chance and I’m so glad I participated! Seven Day Fiancé is the second book in the Love and Games series and if you haven’t read the first, Taste the Heat, it’s not necessary to enjoy Seven Day. As for characterization, we have strong characters. Angelle is the youngest in her family and grew up full filling her parents’ wishes. When a long time family friend, Brady, asks her to… Read more »

Margaret “Peggy” Preston Fitzroy is in a pickle. She’s just rejected the marriage offer her uncle Pierpont arranged. Peggy has a reason for this decision and when she tries to explain it to her uncle he issues her an ultimatum: accept the suit or be thrown out of the house. Peggy’s fate was sealed the night she met her potential suitor, Sebastian Sanford. He’s intrigued at first especially after Peggy stands up to Lady Clarenda Newbank and Peggy is happy to have his approval. Their first meeting is going well until he attempts to force himself on her and she’s saved by a gentleman, Mr. Tinderflint. Peggy is grateful until he states his reason for seeking her out: he offers her a position in King George I’s court. Peggy declines,… Read more »

One Liners is a weekly feature where we look at a novel’s first line as if it were a pick up line. We’ve all heard the saying, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” The first line in a book is equally important as the last since it sets the tone and often will either make an impression or not. Let’s face it, it’s a little like dating. Will that guy with the cheesy pick up line score a number or not? So, I began to think…if the first line in a book was a pick up line, would you give it your number, agree to a date, let it buy you a drink, or do you walk away? Today’s book is Chelsea Cain’s Heartsick and… Read more »

Jennifer Seasons is taking over @AvonBooks and chatting live on Sunday, October 27th 8:30 PM – 9:30 PM (ET). She’ll be discussing all things baseball including The Cardinals vs. Red Sox game, her new novel Throwing Heat, the sexy heroes of the Denver Rush baseball team, steamy sports romances, and more! Use the hash tag #WORLDSERIESLUV to join the chat. Synopsis: The sexy baseball players of Jennifer Seasons’ Diamonds and Dugouts series slide into home with a final fiery romance worthy of a World Series win. Nightclub manager Leslie Cutter has never been one to back down from a bet. So when Peter Kowalskin, pitcher for the Denver Rush baseball team, bets her that she can’t keep her hands off of him, she’s not about to let the arrogant, gorgeous… Read more »

Have you ever been surprised to find out a film was based on a book? Film Friday is a weekly feature that spotlights films that were adapted from books. I had a difficult time deciding which Michael Crichton film to feature since his birthday was earlier this week. I’ve decided to feature Jurassic Park. Universal will be filming a fourth movie for a 2015 release date and Steven Spielberg will return as a producer. A billionaire with the help of scientists clone dinosaurs for a theme park. During a park preview the park suffers a power outage and dinosaurs are let lose. Dr. Alan Grant: T-Rex doesn’t want to be fed. He wants to hunt. Can’t just suppress 65 million years of gut instinct. Jurassic Park (1993)

Warning: links contain spoilers. Click on them at your own risk! They say breaking up is hard to do. And when an author ends a series a particular way or kills a beloved character is trust broken? Some readers believe the contract between the author and reader is broken once this happens. Reading is personal and we bring a character to life in our own mind. We have ideas on what they look and sound like. We are emotionally tied to a book or a series and form an attachment. Books allow us to experience a variety of feelings while we read. So when an author decides to kill a character then it’s perfectly normally to feel angry or disappointment. It’s difficult for readers of a series because these characters… Read more »

I’m thrilled to welcome LynDee Walker back to Lit, etc! I first interviewed her in June about Front Page Fatality and she’s here to talk a bit about Buried Leads (reviewed here) and her upcoming novella “Dateline Memphis” which is part of the Heartache Motel anthology (December 2013). Q. Hi LynDee, welcome back to Lit, etc! As you know, the first question I ask authors is to tell me something about themselves that isn’t on their standard bio / website. Since I asked that question last time, are there any occupational hazards to being an author? Thank you so much for having me! I love this blog and am so excited to be here! Other than too much time in front of the computer, I can’t think of any. Well,… Read more »

I’ve been meaning to get this discussion post up for the past couple of weeks, but things keep getting in the way. Lately, there seems to be a rise in plagiarism cases and with the growth of self publishing there’s bound to be a few more (I’m aware it happens in traditional publishing as well). I’m not going to discuss the morality of it since the concept of plagiarism is modern. Christine de Pizan’s The Book of the Deeds of Arms and of Chivalry is basically Honore Bonet’s The Tree of Battles, but she disguises aspects of Tree of Battles by writing a dream sequence with Honore to discuss what he’s written. Throughout my academic life, I’ve sat through a dozen lectures regarding plagiarism and the fallout. In my final… Read more »

A few months ago, Steph from Inspiring Insomnia had a conversations with Siri post. It was fun to read and in many ways inspired this post with a Magic 8 ball. Now I had trouble with the pictures I took of the responses showing up and I also wanted to show the question. Therefore, I used the Magic Eight Ball CGI from Purdue. The answer set up is a bit awkward with the response on top of the question and it was confusing to read as I put this together so I flipped the format. I hereby present you with a new semi-feature: Questions with 8. If you have a question you’re dying to know the answer to (remember it has to be a yes/no type question), feel free to… Read more »